((Note: Here's the first chapter. I had trouble writing this, but I think it turn out okay. BTW, not only I take cues from the movie for this AU, but I also took cues from the WiR book One Sweet Race.))

Chapter 1

Swizzle's unicorn pop kart, the Tongue-Twister, zoomed along the track passing other racers. So far, he managed to catch up to Taffyta and her posse who were in the lead, followed closely by King Candy. The five racers sped through a long windy Chick-O-Stick tunnel to where the tracks ended to a jump to another track. If a racer is fast enough, they can make the jump and fly through the air, pass through Life Savers candies and landed safely on the other side. If they're not lucky, they fall into a thick Jell-O marsh far below them.

Swizzle gave the eccentric king a smirk while he drive past him, and could have sworn he saw him pout with annoyance which made the boy laugh. He noticed Citrusella's kart coming fast, just behind King Candy but he paid no attention to the blue recolor.

He quickly zipped between Candlehead and Rancis, who were shocked to see him.

"So long, suckers!" he taunted at them. His voice alerted Taffyta and she turned to her head just in time see Swizzle pulling alongside her.

"Well, Taffyta, looks like I'm ahead of you for once!" he laughed.

"Malarkey?! How did you…" Taffyta was dumbstrucked, but she returned her attention to race.

"I told you to not underestimate The Swizz!" Swizzle said, looking smug.

Then he swerved his kart around Taffyta's Pink Lightning as he's coming to the end of the tunnel, getting ready to make the jump. He glanced back one last time, a victorious smile on his face. This infuriated Taffyta so much that she pressed the accelerator so hard to catch up to him. She zipped around him, now in the lead again.

"Stay sweet!" she called, as her Sprinkle Spikes shot out the back of her kart.

"WHOA!" Swizzle tried to avoid them but it was it was too late—he spun in circles and went flying off from the end of the tunnel and landed safely in the Jell-O marsh below.

He stares up in shock as he watched the Taffyta and the other racers' karts fly above his heads. As he waited for a sentient marshmallow to come pick him and his kart up and bring him back to the starting line to do over, he covered his face with his hands in shame.

"… And here are our tomorrow's avatars!" King Candy declared over the microphone. "Let's all give a big applause and congratulate our racers who made it to the roster list! They are all winners!"

The crowd went wild as they cheered for Taffyta Muttonfudge, King Candy, Rancis Fluggerbutter, Citrusella Flugpucker, Candlehead, Gloyd Orangeboar, Adorabeezle Winterpop, Snowanna Rainbeau, and Minty Zaki.

The other racers who didn't make the roster list clapped politely. Swizzle, however, was seething inside.

"I'll see you tomorrow when the arcade opens, my loyal subjects!" the jolly king giggled, bouncing with excitement. "Have some candy!" he shouted, throwing handfuls of sweets into the crowd before leaving with his morose assistant Sour Bill.

"Sorry, Malarkey," Taffyta walked past Swizzle, counting her winnings. "Maybe the next time you try to make it to the list, try not to make yourself look like a buffoon."

A few other racers laughed as they leave one by one.

"I would have been the winner if it weren't for Taffyta and her stupid sprinkle spikes," Swizzle muttered to himself.

"Aww, I think you did swell, Swizz!" Jubileena, a fellow racer, came up to him and patted his back.

Swizzle smiled, genuinely touched. "Really?"

"You did a swell job making yourself look like a buffoon!" Jubileena grinned, which made Swizzle's smile turned into a pout. "Seriously, when you spun like that and flew out of that tunnel like that… It's kinda funny when you think about it!"

"Jubileena, are you ready to go?" Crumbelina called out to her, from her kart. "I promised to show you this new fancy furniture I bought this morning!"

"Coming right up, Crumbs!" Jubileena happily skipped over to her own kart and the two girls drove up.

"Bye Swizzle," Gloyd said as he passed by him.

"Hey, Gloyd, wait!" Swizzle stopped him. "I'm gonna go do something outrageous and really fun, and I was thinking if you wanna hang out with me?"

Gloyd stared at him, looking embarrassed and trying to avoid his gaze. "Oh, I don't think I can do that… not today, at least. Sorry, Swizzle, there's this big dessert buffet I want to go check out. And after that, I got people to prank, and…"

"I get it, you're busy," Swizzle sighed as he gets into his kart. "Well, I'll you at the arcade opening hours tomorrow then."

He notices the recolor girls nearby and wolf-whistled at their direction. One of them, teal-colored Sticky, blushed and giggled while the others just stare at him unimpressed. Swizzle just chuckled and zoomed off, feeling a lot better.

Swizzle parked his kart near the exit of the tunnel which leads into Game Central Station. He remembers a little during the first early weeks when their game was plugged in fifteen years ago, King Candy forbade the racers and the citizens to never leave the game. He warned them that if they ever game-jump, they might accidentally get themselves killed and won't regenerate. It's permanent game over for them.

The racers obeyed King Candy and his odd, strict rules without question except for Swizzle Malarkey. He was always curious to see what other games and people are like beyond Sugar Rush; he can't help himself for secretly being a rebel at heart. A few times in the past, after the Random Roster Race is finished and everyone is busy doing something else, he would sneak out but only traveled so far to the entrance that leads to Sugar Rush. Just hiding in the shadows while watching various video game characters walking by is enough to satisfy the young free soul; as well as drawing graffiti on the walls of the entrance.

Swizzle hid his kart behind a few trees and bushes, so nobody would know where he went. He was making steady progress up to the exit when a voice behind him said, "Hi, Swizzle!"

"Aahh!" Swizzle yelled, jumping in the air. Looking around, he saw a girl standing a few feet away from him. Her candy-covered black hair was tied up with a long strip of red, rubbery licorice.

"Hello!" she spoke again in her squeaky voice which sound annoying to his ears.

Swizzle sputtered, recognizing her instantly. "You scared me, glitch! What are you doing—sneaking up on people?"

"I'm not a glitch! I have a name too," Vanellope von Schweetz told him. "And I'm not sneaking up on you—I just followed you because I saw you walking up here."

"Following, sneaking, whatever. Just don't bother me," Swizzle mumbling, turning away from her; he was more than happy to get rid of this annoying girl. He jumped again when he saw her facing in front of him, as though she teleported very quickly.

"Where are you going?" she asked with curiosity. "Are you doing something suspicious?"

The glitch was finally getting on Swizzle's nerves now. "No, I'm not doing anything suspicious. But I am busy. So, go home!"

"What's that?" Vanelloped smiled cheekily. "I didn't hear ya!"

"Listen, if you don't shut up-" Swizzle gritted his teeth.

"Listen, if you don't shut up," Vanellope mimicked, crossing her arms.

"… Stop mocking me-"

"Stop mocking me!"

"That's not funny!" Swizzle shouts and then gets an idea. "Wanna see something really funny?" he asked, giving her a mean smirk.

He started shaking his body, making spaz-like movents. "Oh, nooo! I'm g-g-g-g-GLITCHING!"

Suddenly, Vanellope's image began to flicker. Parts of her code split apart, blinking on and off briefly. Her code soon came back together after a moment.

"Jerkbreaker," Vanellope grumbled, and ran off.

"Glitch!" he yelled after, happily hopping off to the exit.

When Swizzle reached the other end of the tunnel, he found his heart soaring with the excitement and the familiar sight of the graffiti. He glances at one particular graffiti he made a long time ago, which read his name. To his shock, a few last letters of his name were crossed out and the word "PWND" is written next to it.

"What the?!" he gasped. "My first masterpiece is ruined!"

Remembering his humiliating loss in the race earlier, he takes out his spray can from inside his jacket and he was about cross out the 'PWND' word when a buzzer sounded.

"Step away from the wall, young man," Surge Protector stepped up to Swizzle.

The boy groaned loudly. Of all those times he had vandalized the walls, he has never been caught until today.

((Oh my! He's been caught! Looks like his sneaking out and vandalism has finally gotten him in trouble.))